West Brom Had A Huge Asking Price For James McClean In January

February 6, 2018

Ireland winger James McClean has admitted that he may look to move on from West Brom in the summer in search of more starts.

Although the 28-year-old has featured more prominently from the beginning since Alan Pardew replaced Alan Pardew replaced Tony Pulis at the Hawthorns in November, he has still made just seven Premier vLeague starts all season, with 15 more appearances coming from the bench.

McClean has vowed to fight for his place between now and the end of the season, but is prepared to move on if that does not happen:

“I want regular football, wherever that may be. If it’s the right fit for me and it provides me with regular football then I’m open to anything.

“I just want to play football. I’m 28 now and the last 18 months have been really frustrating. I feel that I’m at my best when I get a run of games. I feel that’s eluded me this past 18 months when I would get a few games and then the team is changed for whatever reason.

“Ideally I’d rather play week-in, week-out at West Brom but that hasn’t been the case at the minute. I’ll work hard like I always do but, for me, regular football is the be all and end all.”

The former Derry City man was the subject of a bid from Championship side Derby County in the January transfer window, and while that was believed to be a loan offer at the time, McClean sets the record straight that it was in fact a permanent offer.

He also believes that West Brom were prepared to do business at what would have been among the highest fees ever paid for an Irish player – a deal which would have seen the club make a major profit from their £1.5m investment had it come to fruition:

“There was no loan offer from Derby. It was a permanent deal but it didn’t materialise. West Brom had their value and I’m not in the game to dictate my value – that’s up to clubs to do.

“I think West Brom wanted £15 million but Derby weren’t prepared to pay that -whether I think that’s wrong or not, it’s not up to me to say.”